Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hanson-Young for her question. I reject the premise of the question, and I would point out that driving up the price of electricity for families and pensioners and driving up the price of electricity for business by pursuing a 45 per cent emissions reduction target—or whatever it is that the Greens want to support today—by imposing higher taxes and higher electricity prices would not have prevented the drought or the fires that you are complaining about.

Obviously we're all concerned about the drought, and our government, the Liberal and National Party government, led by Prime Minister Turnbull and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, is taking very strong action to support farming communities in those drought-affected areas. We are taking the appropriate measures to ensure that we can bring down the price of electricity, to ensure that our energy supplies are more reliable and that we meet the emissions reduction target that we signed onto in Paris, but to do so in a way that is sensible, that is responsible, that doesn't hurt families and pensioners around Australia and that doesn't hurt our economic growth and job creation opportunities into the future. You go right ahead; you go to the next election with a policy to push up the cost of electricity when you know that it will hurt families and pensioners and will hurt our economy and cost jobs. We will go to the next election promising to deliver our plan for stronger growth and more jobs, to bring down the cost of electricity and to meet our emissions reduction targets in the way that is economically responsible.